How it works: Couples therapy for one

WASHINGTON – Elisabeth Bernstein, who writes a column for the Wall Street Journal, says couples therapy for one person can work if the relationship is relatively healthy.

Bernstein told WTOP Wednesday she interviewed a couple from Great Falls, Va. who began relationship therapy together. After a few years, the husband wasn’t getting anything out of it, and stopped going.

His wife, however, chose to continue couples therapy without him.

“She was able to learn the skills and then go home and help him learn them,” Bernstein said.

But there’s a catch, when a couple is working through major issues like abuse or cheating, relationship therapy for one person is not effective, Bernstein said.

The woman from Virginia learned her happiness could not rely on her husband. She started doing activities she wanted to do alone, and her husband told Bernstein he felt less pressure and their relationship improved.

For more, listen to the full interview on the right and read Bernstein’s latest chat about couples therapy in Wednesday’s the Wall Street Journal.